Google Ads vs Social Ads: What’s Right For Your Business?

Every ad you run for your business should have a purpose…

But each platform solves a different problem, it’s not one-size-fits-all.

So how do you know if you’re spending your budget in the right places?

Spoiler Alert:
​These platforms don’t work for every business, you need to assess which is right for you.

Google Ads?

Most businesses start with Google advertising before any other marketing channel due to how simple it is to set up and measure.

There are great reasons for this:

1. Search advertising is high in commercial intent
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   ​If you’re advertising for “accounting services” then you’re essentially paying for clicks from people typing “accountants near me” and related terms.
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   These prospects are high in commercial intent (ie. likely to purchase).
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2. Local targeting is incredibly reliable
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   ​For businesses that provide an in-person service or otherwise have geographic restrictions, Google’s location targeting is incredibly accurate and valuable.
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   This helps businesses find exactly who they need to, not wasting a dollar on someone out of the market.

But, it’s not all sunshine.

Some companies waste thousands on Google Ads.

Here are the common issues:

1. Not built for search
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   ​Not every industry is well-known.
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   For example, if you’re building a brand new product/service that doesn’t already exist in the marketplace elsewhere, then it’s unlikely there are many searches for your business.
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   This means you might struggle to even find qualified prospects in search.
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2. Network / Word of Mouth based
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   ​Some industries (especially high-priced services) have buyers that don’t use search to make purchasing decisions.
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   High net-worth individuals and enterprise companies are unlikely to shop using these platforms, they’d rather look within their existing networks for industry connections.
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   So spending money on Google advertising could turn out to be a massive waste of money.

Social Ads?

Social advertising, while more complex than search advertising, is the second biggest market for advertising products and services.

While Search outperforms ‘intent-based’ purchasing patterns… social is the king of targeting.

Almost any form of interest, career, personal characteristic, familial status, location, etc. can be targeted specifically on social.

This means you can build ads that are incredibly specific to a certain type of person, and then guarantee that you get in front of them.

This makes social great for:

1. Niche products/services
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   ​Some products/services are only of interest to a very specific type of person. Social ads allow you to avoid wasting money on the ‘wrong’ people.
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   Keep your budget focused on working on the right prospects.
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2. Conversion rate optimization
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   ​It’s much easier to improve the conversion rate (and ROI) of a social campaign.
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   This is simply because you have more control over the variables on social media. From complex creative media, captions, CTAs, landing pages, targeting, etc.
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   The ability to test new ideas and optimize performance is much greater on Social.

All this to say… it’s not perfect.

Social ads have problems too.

Here are the big ones:

1. Creative requirements
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   ​Creating great social ads is incredibly reliant on ad creativity.
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   You need to produce great content if you want to get good performance out of your campaigns.
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   On top of that, you have to continue to produce more so that you don’t experience ‘ad fatigue’, which is when you run the same ad for too long and it starts to perform worse.
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   We recommend creating new ad creatives every month.
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2. Complexity
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   ​The ability to target infinitely more specifically is a blessing and a curse.
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   There will always be more data to test & optimize around, but this also means it takes longer & more money on average to find your ideal market through social advertising.
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   With the amount of options available to you, it’s incredibly unlikely that you get it right on the first try.
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   So continuous testing and experimenting will be required to get the best results.

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Both?

For 90% of businesses, using both platforms is the best way to grow.

Take the best of both worlds and allow your money to work in both ways.

1. Hyper-targeted, cold brand awareness and customer acquisition.
2. Intent targeted, higher likeliness to purchase.

The only case where you would want to avoid either one of these channels is if the ‘cons’ mentioned above are a complete deal breaker for your business type or your stage of budget.

The inevitable for every company is to expand through both platforms.

Are you spending your money in the right places?

Ask our team to take a look! Our ads experts have been working with businesses since the beginning of digital advertising and have managed over $300M in advertising budgets. Don’t start from zero when you can take advantage of everything we’ve already learned.